To Physicists: Some questions and information?

AI Thread Summary
The discussion centers on preparing for a physics contest focused on the phenomenon of light duality, exploring both wave and particle theories. Key historical figures such as Huygens, Fresnel, Newton, and Einstein are mentioned, with questions raised about their contributions and interactions. The participant seeks clarification on the Huygens-Fresnel principle, the origins of interference, and the relationship between black-body radiation and the photoelectric effect. There's also a desire for creative presentation ideas, potentially in a dialogue format, while adhering to the contest's no-materials rule. The thread concludes with a note on the complexities of quantum mechanics and wave-particle duality.
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I am going to take part in a Physics contest in which I must present a Physical phenomenon. I chose to present the light-duality phenomenon.
I created this thread so I can gather some information, and understand how things happened.

What I have until now:
Waves Vs Particles

Waves
Aristotle stated this first assumption. Later, in the 11th century, Arhazen did aswell. In 1678, Huygens suggested that the fact that light diffracts makes light have a wave nature. Frensel supported Huygens' idea and merged it with his own principle of interference** and created the Huygens-Frensel principle. Later in the mid-19th century James Clerk Maxwell combined 4 equations and proved that visible, ultraviolet and infrared light are all electromagnetic waves.

**At this point I have 3 questions
1)Hooke is mentioned in the wikipedia for working with these two people. What did he do? If this is true, why is it only called Huygens-Frensel principle?

2)It says that principle of interference was Frensel's principle. Wasn't interference discovered firstly by Thomas Young in 1801?

3)In the wikipedia it mentions that Huygens-Frensel principle could explain both the rectilinear propagation of light and also diffraction effects. How can we explain it with that principle?


Particles
Democritus stated this first assumption. In 1630 Rene Descartes did aswell.(I might not mention him). In 1670, Isaac Newton suggested that since light travels in straight lines, it can travel through vacuum and when it changes medium of propagation from a less dense to a denser one, it accelerates, it means that light behaves as particles. In the 20th century, Planck and Einstein explained the photoelectric effect. (<- I have doubts on this, Planck did the black-body radiation experiment and came to what conclusions? And how did Einstein add up to his conclusions. Also, photoelectric effect is the same as the black-body radiation experiment right?)

Please, if I have forgotten something important, or made any mistakes please say so.
Also, I if there were any interactions between these people, it would help me a lot. That's because I am thinking of presenting it in a form of poem-dialogue in which these two sides are arguing with each other and they point out the other side's mistakes etc.

What I have read is that Huygens showed that when light changes medium of propagation, it gets reflected AND refracted. Using a wave model of light, he was able to show that waves can do this.(If you measure the amount of light reflected and the amount of light refracted, it adds up to the original wave).
He then asked Newton to explain this phenomenon using his particle-theory of light. Newton gave a silly answer, that some particles "decide" to go into the water but some do not. Due to the silliness of his answer he lost many of his supporters. <-- Is this story true? If it is, could you tell me more events? They would definitely help me out creating dialogues between the two teams.


Last but not least, do you have any ideas for the presentation? Maybe change it's whole style? (not to make it a poem). Any other ideas are accepted. Note: I am not allowed to use any materials at all, only me on the stage.


Thanks for reading, and I would highly appreciate it if you answered!
 
Physics news on Phys.org
For presentation ideas, try searching youtube for "Wave/Particle duality" videos. I know there's a Feynman discussion on it and a Minute Physics two part video.
 
I think it's easist first to watch a short vidio clip I find these videos very relaxing to watch .. I got to thinking is this being done in the most efficient way? The sand has to be suspended in the water to move it to the outlet ... The faster the water , the more turbulance and the sand stays suspended, so it seems to me the rule of thumb is the hose be aimed towards the outlet at all times .. Many times the workers hit the sand directly which will greatly reduce the water...
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